Kelly Wiley
Kelly graduated with a BA in Child Development from Chico State. She has worked with young children in licensed programs since 1983.
She owned and operated Golden Gate Music Together in San Francisco 2001-2016.
She created Golden Gate Children’s Art & Outdoor Explorations in the Fall of 2013. Her vision was and still is, to offer a Reggio Inspired Enrichment Program that allowed children to tinker and explore a wide range of materials and express themselves with many different mediums. To document their process and reflect back their ideas by asking questions. To provide a art & outdoor space that was the third teacher because it inspired creativity. To build strong relationships with and between children. To foster their development and to encourage joy.
Kelly was first exposed to Reggio Emilia in 1995 when working at the PG & E Children's Center in San Francisco. It was one of the first centers in the city to start implementing Reggio Emilia inspired classrooms. Funding from the center allowed for her to take part in local and nationwide trainings and roundtable Reggio Meetings. She has remained an active member of NAEYC and attends NAREA Conferences throughout the year. Kelly has attended Reggio Emilia,Italy trainings since the Fall of 2019. She goes in the Spring(April) & the Fall(November) and attends with 1 or more Teachers.
Eliana Bustamante
Ellie grew up in Bolinas, CA where she first began working with children in her mother’s summer camp. She quickly developed a deep love of playing, art making and conversing with little ones and went on to study Early Childhood Education at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz.
She loves to hike, play soccer, swim in the ocean and kick back with family and friends. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a Bachelor’s degree in Art in 2017, and lives in San Francisco.
Attended Teacher Training workshop in Reggio Emilia, Italy Spring of 2023
Sophie Ferretti
Sophie grew up mostly in San Diego CA, where she went to project-based charter schools allowing her to learn in hands-on, group-project based settings. Eclectic in her creative pursuits, Sophie explores textile arts (knitting, crochet, weaving, sewing), painting, photography, film/animation and music.
Sophie graduated in 2019 from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Environmental Studies + Latin American/Latinx studies after spending time in Indonesia working for a reforestation NGO and ecovillage/organic farm. She loves being outdoors; hiking, swimming or gardening.
Sophie taught at a Waldorf-style preschool in Santa Cruz CA for 4 years guiding children in many different art projects, gardening, singing, baking and more. She also created a program called Art in the Park; engaging in art projects with kids in Santa Cruz parks during lockdown. When learning about the Reggio Emilia Philosophy, Sophie immediately felt inspired and connected to this pedagogy which aligns with her own eclectic explorative art practice ~ free flowing and open ended.
Sophie cares deeply about curating a supportive, safe and fun environment for children to stay curious and enjoy the beautiful things in life.
Attended Teacher Training workshop in Reggio Emilia, Italy Spring of 2023
Natalie Kleefeld
Natalie began her work in the field of early childhood education in 2004. Since then, she has taught in a range of Reggio-inspired infant, toddler, preschool, and kindergarten classrooms in independent, public, cooperative, and university laboratory settings in California and Massachusetts. She earned an M.A in Child Development from Tufts University as well as a Post-Master’s Certificate in Early Childhood Research, Policy and Practice from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. From 2012-2016, she worked as a research assistant to Lella Gandini, U.S. Liaison for the Reggio Emilia Approach. Natalie is passionate about the visual arts and supporting "the hundred languages" of children. Outside of teaching, Natalie is an avid reader, museum-goer, and loves to paint and draw. She is working on an illustrated children’s book using ink and watercolor. She lives in San Francisco with her daughter, Aada, and husband, Kyle.
Attended Teaching Training Workshop in Reggio Emilia, Spring 2012 & the Fall of 2024
Bella Manfredi
Bella is a multidisciplinary artist who focuses on screen printing textiles, designing and sewing clothing. Bella grew up in Ojai, California where being outside, making art and theater were integral to her upbringing. She received her Bachelors in Art Practice and a Minor in Journalism from UC Berkeley and now lives in San Francisco. Her experience working with children includes nannying and leading a fashion design camp at Montalvo Arts Center. She has been an Art Handler, installing art in museums and galleries and worked on small farms. She is very inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy because she believes art is inherently open ended- there’s not one “right” way of making and children have the ability to express themselves in many ways.
Max Schieble
Bio coming soon!
Julia Whitsett
Julia Whitsett was born and raised in Northern California and attended college at San Francisco State, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies and Philosophy. Early on in life she was drawn to working with children, her first job teaching children to learn to swim. Since then working with youth has been a pillar in Julia’s life.
Julia is passionate about the fiercely positive impact that Golden Gate Art and Nature’s Reggio Emilia approach to art and play provides. She is eager to give children the opportunity to be actively involved in their art and play to promote an alternative style of learning science, math, social play, self discovery, and art. Julia embraces the Reggio Emilia approach by aiding children's self directed learning and fostering the potential that all children have by empowering them with open ended materials and creative freedom.
Her passions include botany, photography, film, music, and women's rights. In her future she hopes to continue working with children.
Attended Teacher Training workshop in Reggio Emilia, Italy in April 2024.
Nora van den Berg
Born in Switzerland to Swiss/Dutch parents I grew up in both Switzerland and Holland then later in Ireland. As a young child I had the beautiful opportunity to paint in a studio inspired by the philosophy of Arno Stern which I believe built my foundation of the Art I create today. I studied Fine Art painting and photography in Dublin, Ireland and then spent some time in the south of France. Over 20 years ago I moved to San Francisco where I am raising my two sons, now 18 and 15. For me Art represents a bridge to endless possibilities and I always tell the children that there are no mistakes in Art. So to me what I most enjoy in the classroom is when I see the students create fearlessly and become so absorbed in the act of creating and expressing their inner world that they forget about the focus of the outcome of an art piece. When children are encouraged to create from a place where all things are possible and every act of expressing visually is meaningful, then magic naturally occurs. When given full confidence in their capabilities and honoring each and everyone's uniqueness I see children bloom and blossom eager to display their unique gifts in their own unique patterns. My ultimate goal for Art in the life of children is always to awaken, encourage and support every child to feel so free in their act of creating and expressing themselves in Art that they gain such confidence in themselves and see the whole world as an opportunity to live as free and incredibly powerful creators.
Ashley Bird
Ashley grew up in SoCal where she spent her summers with a house full of siblings and cousins. Each year they ran their own summer camp making films, cooking, building obstacle courses and camping. Her own magical childhood has left her passionate about facilitating growth through exploration for other children in art spaces and the outdoors.
For the last decade she has been working with kids as an art teacher. She has lived in Nashville, T.N. where she got her B.F.A. in Photography and Printmaking, in Italy where she continued her studies in art, and in Germany where she studied the German language and also earned her M.F.A.
Outside of work, she can be found camping around CA, biking through the city, skating to music in G.G. Park, playing with her cats, and participating in creative happenings with her friends and husband.